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Volume 8, Number 6
November - December 1991
Director’s Note
At this time of year, many see a visit to our
greenhouse as a short holiday on a tropical
island - a warm, green respite from the
colder, grayer surroundings. Many also
come to learn about research in progress,
as plant studies requiring controlled
environmental conditions often are done in
one or more of the building's seven units.
Now, the greenhouse offers yet another
dimension: since June, a program of
integrated pest management is has been in
use. Natural predators have replaced
pesticides. The greenhouse ecosystem is
becoming healthier each day.
Our cover story explains the use of
integrated pest management in the
greenhouse. Information for visitors is in
the calendar on the back page. Come
enjoy a tropical holiday, at any time of
year.
The IES Newsletter is published by the
Institute of Ecosystem Studies at the Mary
Flagler Cary Arboretum. Located in
Millbrook, New York, the Institute is a
division of The New York Botanical
Garden. All newsletter correspondence
should be addressed to the Editor.
Gene E. Likens, Director
Joseph S. Warner, Administrator
Alan R. Berkowitz, Head of Education
Editor: Jill Cadwallader
Printing: Central Press
INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
The New York Botanical Garden
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum
Education Program
Box R
Millbrook, NY 12545-0178
(914) 677-5359
The End of an Era in
Mealybugs. Aphids. Spider mites. Thrips.
Whiteflies. These destructive insects are
the scourge of greenhouse managers and
houseplant fanciers alike. Since the
Institute greenhouse opened in 1972, such
insect pests had been controlled by
monthly pesticide spraying and/or fumiga­tion
— twice a month during the summer.
All this ended, however, in June 1991
when four predatory insect species were
introduced to the facility as biological
control agents. These creatures didn’t suck
plant juices and injure plants — instead,
they were hungry for juicy mealybugs,
spider mites, aphids and thrips. They were
the tangible evidence of the Institute’s leap
into the world of integrated pest manage­ment.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a
multi-disciplinary approach in which pests
are controlled by biological control agents,
such as parasites, predators or disease
organisms, in conjunction with other
management techniques that reduce the
likelihood of insect pest outbreaks. The
practice of biological control is not new:
over two thousand years ago the Chinese
kept ants in citrus trees to eat caterpillars
and boring beetles that attacked the trees.
Not long after that the Chinese began using
spiders for similar purposes. More
recently, in 1752, Carolus Linnaeus, the
Swedish botanist who established the
classification system for plants and animals
that is still used by taxonomists today,
advised that predatory insects should be
used to control pests on crop plants.
David Bulkeley, manager of the Institute’s
greenhouse, had been using pesticides for
all of his 16 years there. Each time
the Greenhouse
spraying was to be done he would lock the
door to visitors, dress in protective
clothing, then spend the next hour and a
half applying one of the six chemicals that
he used in rotation to prevent mealybugs
and other pests from building up a resis­tance.
In spite of regular treatment,
however, those mealybugs were still
enjoying Hoy a plants, aphids were
attacking Hibiscus shrubs and spider mites
were besieging banana trees.
Mr. Bulkeley had had ecological concerns
about pesticide use for some time, but was
hesitant to abandon this proven technique
for something totally new. Once the
decision was made to use biological
controls, there would be no turning back:
any pesticide application would kill the
predators along with the pests. Then, in
early 1991, several things happened. Dr.
Vera Krischik (see IES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 8 No. 2) began two years of research
at the Institute studying relationships
between insects and plants. Earlier in her
career she had been a science administrator
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
and during her tenure had instituted IPM
practices for grain and food storage. Mr.
Bulkeley took advantage of her expertise
as he investigated the pros and cons of
biological control. Also, a number of
students in the Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program were using the
greenhouse around the clock for their
projects, so spraying was out of the
question. Thus, when he saw an 800-
number for a biological pest control firm in
Colorado, he was ready to make the call.
continued on page 2
IPM at work in the
Institute's greenhouse:
Mealybugs, sucking the
juices of Hoya leaves in the
foreground and center
right, are defenseless
against attack by larvae of
the green lacewing. The
delicate, winged lacewing
adults, three of which are
in the fern at the upper
right of the drawing, live
for approximately 30 days,
eating pollen, nectar and
honey dew and laying from
20-30 eggs a day. The eggs
hatch into larvae, and the
predator vs. prey cycle in
the greenhouse continues.
Drawing by
Sharon Machida Okada
jrrrur

Volume 8, Number 6
November - December 1991
Director’s Note
At this time of year, many see a visit to our
greenhouse as a short holiday on a tropical
island - a warm, green respite from the
colder, grayer surroundings. Many also
come to learn about research in progress,
as plant studies requiring controlled
environmental conditions often are done in
one or more of the building's seven units.
Now, the greenhouse offers yet another
dimension: since June, a program of
integrated pest management is has been in
use. Natural predators have replaced
pesticides. The greenhouse ecosystem is
becoming healthier each day.
Our cover story explains the use of
integrated pest management in the
greenhouse. Information for visitors is in
the calendar on the back page. Come
enjoy a tropical holiday, at any time of
year.
The IES Newsletter is published by the
Institute of Ecosystem Studies at the Mary
Flagler Cary Arboretum. Located in
Millbrook, New York, the Institute is a
division of The New York Botanical
Garden. All newsletter correspondence
should be addressed to the Editor.
Gene E. Likens, Director
Joseph S. Warner, Administrator
Alan R. Berkowitz, Head of Education
Editor: Jill Cadwallader
Printing: Central Press
INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
The New York Botanical Garden
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum
Education Program
Box R
Millbrook, NY 12545-0178
(914) 677-5359
The End of an Era in
Mealybugs. Aphids. Spider mites. Thrips.
Whiteflies. These destructive insects are
the scourge of greenhouse managers and
houseplant fanciers alike. Since the
Institute greenhouse opened in 1972, such
insect pests had been controlled by
monthly pesticide spraying and/or fumiga­tion
— twice a month during the summer.
All this ended, however, in June 1991
when four predatory insect species were
introduced to the facility as biological
control agents. These creatures didn’t suck
plant juices and injure plants — instead,
they were hungry for juicy mealybugs,
spider mites, aphids and thrips. They were
the tangible evidence of the Institute’s leap
into the world of integrated pest manage­ment.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a
multi-disciplinary approach in which pests
are controlled by biological control agents,
such as parasites, predators or disease
organisms, in conjunction with other
management techniques that reduce the
likelihood of insect pest outbreaks. The
practice of biological control is not new:
over two thousand years ago the Chinese
kept ants in citrus trees to eat caterpillars
and boring beetles that attacked the trees.
Not long after that the Chinese began using
spiders for similar purposes. More
recently, in 1752, Carolus Linnaeus, the
Swedish botanist who established the
classification system for plants and animals
that is still used by taxonomists today,
advised that predatory insects should be
used to control pests on crop plants.
David Bulkeley, manager of the Institute’s
greenhouse, had been using pesticides for
all of his 16 years there. Each time
the Greenhouse
spraying was to be done he would lock the
door to visitors, dress in protective
clothing, then spend the next hour and a
half applying one of the six chemicals that
he used in rotation to prevent mealybugs
and other pests from building up a resis­tance.
In spite of regular treatment,
however, those mealybugs were still
enjoying Hoy a plants, aphids were
attacking Hibiscus shrubs and spider mites
were besieging banana trees.
Mr. Bulkeley had had ecological concerns
about pesticide use for some time, but was
hesitant to abandon this proven technique
for something totally new. Once the
decision was made to use biological
controls, there would be no turning back:
any pesticide application would kill the
predators along with the pests. Then, in
early 1991, several things happened. Dr.
Vera Krischik (see IES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 8 No. 2) began two years of research
at the Institute studying relationships
between insects and plants. Earlier in her
career she had been a science administrator
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
and during her tenure had instituted IPM
practices for grain and food storage. Mr.
Bulkeley took advantage of her expertise
as he investigated the pros and cons of
biological control. Also, a number of
students in the Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program were using the
greenhouse around the clock for their
projects, so spraying was out of the
question. Thus, when he saw an 800-
number for a biological pest control firm in
Colorado, he was ready to make the call.
continued on page 2
IPM at work in the
Institute's greenhouse:
Mealybugs, sucking the
juices of Hoya leaves in the
foreground and center
right, are defenseless
against attack by larvae of
the green lacewing. The
delicate, winged lacewing
adults, three of which are
in the fern at the upper
right of the drawing, live
for approximately 30 days,
eating pollen, nectar and
honey dew and laying from
20-30 eggs a day. The eggs
hatch into larvae, and the
predator vs. prey cycle in
the greenhouse continues.
Drawing by
Sharon Machida Okada
jrrrur